Short takes for Sept. 2 (UPDATED)

September 2, 2011

THUMBS UP: This thumbs up isn't for how the vote turned out in Lynd, it's about how the community let its voice be heard loud and clear about the school issue. Residents were adamant in a number of meetings leading up to the vote and that's fine, but what's even better is that in the end they let their vote do the talking - and no matter how much a person raises their voice or pounds their fist, nothing is more powerful than a vote. The future is still uncertain in Lynd - the current school will likely be updated and renovated for health and safety reasons - but for now, at least Lynd residents know their voices were heard during a voting event where they didn't have to say a thing.

Honoring veterans at funerals

THUMBS UP: It was announced Wednesday that the state will continue to pay for honor guards at veterans' funerals shortly after NPR reported that funding would be discontinued because of budget cuts. Veterans Affairs Commissioner Larry Shellito told NPR Wednesday that with some help from donations the agency will have funding to cover funeral-related costs, at least until next year. This is much-welcomed news for families of all veterans and the entire state, as these veterans and their families deserve the best, and these tributes, being specially honored at their funerals, should be preserved at all costs.

Skunk Hollow Road

SIDEWAYS THUMBS: So, the city has $122,000 that used to be county money sitting in an account to use to fix Skunk Hollow Road in Marshall, a road made part of the city in 1996 when a project to resurface it was planned. That project never came to fruition, so the money, and the road, sit untouched. Now, 15 years later, the cost of fixing the road has apparently more than tripled. It's only a three-quarter mile stretch of road, but it needs a lot of work. Who should pay? The county says the city should honor its agreement to fix it, but if the city was to eventually detach itself from the road and give jurisdiction to the county, the best thing would be to split the cost down the middle.